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    History of Persia
    History of Persia
    History of Persia
    Ebook88 pages2 hours

    History of Persia

    By W. Harold Claflin

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                There are but few nations of the earth which can match the boast of Persia: that despite an unexampled series of conquests and subjugations she has as a nation played a great part in world history in ancient, in mediaeval, and in modern times. In ancient times she stands forth, first among the great conquering nations, next as the only power able to cope with the Roman colossus. In mediaeval times she became the mistress of the intellectual world, the paradise of poetry, the literary center and dispenser of light for all the East. In modem times she appears again as a great political state courted by Europe, influencing the Asiatic expansion of European powers, splitting the Mohammedan world by her secession from the orthodox faith. And finally, after producing the last of the great series of Asiatic conquerors whose exploits and whose spoils revive for us the marvels of the Arabian Nights, she sinks rapidly into decay, and like many another Asiatic power, falls an easy prey before the more scientific civilization of modern Europe...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublishdrive
    Release dateJul 12, 2017
    History of Persia

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      Book preview

      History of Persia - W. Harold Claflin

      2017

      All rights reserved

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      THE SASSANIAN DYNASTY, 218-643 A.D.

      FOREIGN RULE, 643-1502

      THE NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE, 1502-1733

      MODERN PERSIA, 1733-1906

      THE GOVERNMENT OF PERSIA

      THE SASSANIAN DYNASTY, 218-643 A.D.

      There are but few nations of the earth which can match the boast of Persia: that despite an unexampled series of conquests and subjugations she has as a nation played a great part in world history in ancient, in mediaeval, and in modern times. In ancient times she stands forth, first among the great conquering nations, next as the only power able to cope with the Roman colossus. In mediaeval times she became the mistress of the intellectual world, the paradise of poetry, the literary center and dispenser of light for all the East. In modem times she appears again as a great political state courted by Europe, influencing the Asiatic expansion of European powers, splitting the Mohammedan world by her secession from the orthodox faith. And finally, after producing the last of the great series of Asiatic conquerors whose exploits and whose spoils revive for us the marvels of the Arabian Nights, she sinks rapidly into decay, and like many another Asiatic power, falls an easy prey before the more scientific civilization of modern Europe.

      Persia, or Iran, was divided by the ancients into three parts: the coast, the mountain, and the plain. This description holds good for the modem Persia of the shahs, which, clipped of many provinces as it is, still corresponds in the main to the empires of former times. The coast region lying along the Persian Gulf forms a low, narrow, unhealthful strip cut off to the north by a mountain wall which approaches at times to within a mile of the sea and again recedes to a distance of twenty miles. This region, arid and intensely hot, bears a strong resemblance to the opposite coast of Arabia and indeed is chiefly peopled by Arabs. Back of the mountain wall, which is penetrated here and there by difficult passes—the caravan routes to the interior—lies a mountainous region diversified in parts by lovely valleys and broad plains. This is Persia proper, the cradle of the race and the center of the ancient empire. Here lie the ruins of the ancient cities—Persepolis, Susa, Pasagardae. Here is the famous Vale of Shiraz, famed in all the East for its wine and roses. But on the whole the region is desolate and in parts scarcely habitable. Back of this hilly country lies the great plateau of Iran, stretching from the fertile Tigris Valley on the west to the mountains of Afghanistan on the east, and northward to the Caspian and the River Oxus. This vast and lofty plateau, traversed in part by lofty mountain ranges, is in general desolate and barren, unwatered save for springs and subterranean channels. To the west lie the grain lands of ancient Media and the mountainous territory of the Karduchi, the modern Kurdistan; to the east, cut off by sandy deserts and salt marshes, lies the great province of Khurasan, fertile and well-wooded. To the north the huge bulk of the Elburz Mountains, culminating in lofty Demavend, the sacred mountain of Iran, and the still more famous Ararat, cuts off the plateau from the Caspian. The well-wooded valleys of the Elburz, watered by rushing mountain streams, are among the most picturesque and delightful spots in the country. On the whole, however, the plateau of Iran is a bleak and scanty region, suffering from extremes of heat and cold, but still the birthplace of a strong and virile race.

      The native Persian of to-day has, after centuries of oppression and constant mixture with foreign races, sadly degenerated from his prototype of Achaemenian or Sassanian times. The Tajiks, as they are called, form the bulk of the settled population, and are merchants and agriculturists. Centuries of gross misrule have destroyed their ancient manliness and independence and made of them a servile, cunning, and even dishonest race. Strangely enough the finest of the native Persians to-day are found among the Guebres or Fire Worshipers, who have clung to the ancient faith of Iran despite twelve hundred years of persecution. The ruling race to-day, and the most virile, is the Turkoman—largely formed of nomad tribes who are still distinguished for their marauding habits.

      The first period of Persian history closed with the conquest of the Achsemenian kingdom by Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. It had been the idea of Alexander to fuse the Greeks and the Persians and to establish himself at the head of a Perso-Hellenic state with its capital at Babylon. But this magnificent dream died with the conqueror and his successors were content to play the ordinary role of conquerors, surrounding themselves with Greek mercenaries and intrusting the government of the provinces to Greek satraps. The Persians were treated as slaves, their religion insulted and their temples plundered. The Seleucid rule was not, however, of long duration in Persia. About 250 B.C. the Parthians, a barbarous and warlike people of Turanian stock inhabiting the region southeast of the Caspian, threw off the Greek rule under their king, Arsaces, and founded an independent state. About 163 B.C. the great Parthian king Mithradates overran Persia, Media, and Babylonia and established on the ruins of Seleucid power an empire which lasted four centuries and was the first to check the expansion of the Mistress of the World.

      Under the Parthian kings the state of the subject peoples of Iran was somewhat improved. The Arsacide monarchs began at least by conforming to the national religion, while the provinces were ruled by native sub-kings who were permitted to do very much as they pleased so long as they paid an annual tribute and sent the required military levies to the king of kings at Ctesiphon. And so, under native princes, themselves often of the priestly order, the national religion and the traditions of former greatness were preserved in Persia through the long centuries of foreign domination.

      The Parthian empire after a remarkable career finally went the way of most eastern dynasties. Under a series of incapable and luxurious kings the Romans conquered province after province while the empire was tom by civil wars and local uprisings. The last Parthian king, Artabanes, did much to revive the prestige of the empire by his great victory over the Romans at Nineveh, but even he was unable to check the process of disintegration. It was natural under these circumstances that Persia should seek to revive her ancient independence. A leader was found in Ardashir, or Artaxerxes, said by tradition to be of lowly birth, but more probably, to judge from his inscriptions, the sub-king of Persia. Rising in sudden revolt Ardashir rapidly conquered all Susiana, Persia, and Kirman, and when Artabanes, aroused to the situation, finally took the field he was defeated and slain in battle on the plain of Hormuz, 218 A.D.

      This victory gave to Ardashir the dominion of the East. The remaining Parthian provinces were quickly conquered, and the new Persian empire soon extended from the Tigris to the borders of Afghanistan. Not content with

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